Thread: Fabricating A Side Discharge Chute

I've recently decided to stop bagging grass, for a lot of reasons, other than in the spring and fall when I have the ZVAC and bags on for cleanups/leaves.

I probably would have made this decision a long time ago, except for my Snapper 52" Zero Turn (which I bought used) didn't come with a side discharge chute so I've been afraid if I took the vac and bags off it'll start launchin stones through windows and such. I've looked into the cost of ordering a chute for it, and that option would probably cost me in the neighborhood of $300 bucks.

So I'm thinking I should just fabricate one myself, or simply cut and bend a single piece of sheet metal to act as a chute and bolt it to the deck. Has anyone here done this before and had any trial/error advice they'd like to share? How far down should I make the top slant to avoid launching stones or anything at cars, windows, etc?

Also can anyone suggest good mulching blades for me to use? I really don't want to sacrifice aesthetics or piss off my customers, even for all pluses of not bagging.